Warbird Information Exchange

B-17 External Ordinance

Hello everyone, it has been a while since I posted something. Been out of commission for a while, but feel much better now.

OK, I saw the other day some old WW2 color footage about B-17 groups in England.

At one point the mention external bomb load on B-17. You can kind of see where the where attached on some of the footage, but there where no clear shots of the setup.

I did a quick search but did not find anything substantial on the subject except on the Liberty Belle site where they specify the Max load with external ordinance added.

I wonder if someone has more info or reference on the actual setup for this ? As always, just curious. This might make for a good model to do at some point.

Cheers

Michel

I believe there was a rack on each wing between the bombay and the inboard motors. If I remember correctly the racks could each hold a 500lb bomb.

Revell/Monogram's 1/48 B-17F gives you the option of installing the external bomb racks.

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I'll have to look it up when I get home,but,I believe that the removable external bomb racks could carry at least a 2000lb bomb on each side.Roger Freeman's "The Mighty Eighth" series of books has pictures and information.The external racks were seldom used because the extra bomb load meant reduction in fuel load/range.I'm pretty sure that when large bombs were carried on the external racks,they had to be dropped before the bomb bay doors could be opened.I'll confirm this when I can get to my library at home.Maybe,somebody can confirm or correct this in the meantime.

Freeman and Osborne's "The Flying Fortress Story" show external racks with two 1000lb bombs. Lots of extra drag and rarely used.

Steve G

The external racks were also used for experimental glide bombs that were only partially successful. I believe this was toyed with as a way to take out V-1 launch sites and other hardened positions but was soon dropped.

Scott

don't forget about the air / sea rescue version with the big multi person air dropped rescue boat chock loaded with supplies!!!

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

From a quick check of Roger Freeman's "The Mighy Eighth",I came up with the following caption to a picture on Page 72:

"Under-wing shackles on 385th BG's Picadilly Queen support a 2,000 lb H.E. Shackles were rarely used due to range limitations with heavy bomb loads."

In the text on the same page:

"When the Forts went to Romilly on September 15th [1943] some 1st Division machines carried two externally slung bombs in addition to a regular bomb load.These 1000 pounders were attached,one each,to wing racks between the inboard engines and the fuselage,[and] allowed full advantage to be taken of the B-17's lifting power on short haul missions"

From Freeman's "The Mighty Eighth War Diary":

The caption to a picture on page 117 reads in part:

"On 26 September [1943],3BD groups carried two 1000 lb bombs on external wing racks to short range targets.Cloud obscured the target for these 94BG bombers which had to return without bombing.The additional drag and weight had such a detrimental effect on range and altitude performance that thereafter external loads were only carried on specialised operations."

Interestingly,according to the statistics listed for a mission dated 7 September 1943,the 3rd Bomb Division sent 147 B-17's to Watten,a V Weapons site,which was the primary target.Of these 147 aircraft,58 actually bombed the target.Under "Remarks" is the following:
"Weather prevented most 3BD a/c from bombing".(This is from page 107 of War Diary).

The really interesting part,other than the early mission to a V Weapons site,is that the bombing total for the 58 effective B-17's was listed as "116 x 2000GP".It doesn't say whether these 2000 lb bombs (2 per B-17 total) were carried internally or externally.According to my B-17F flight manual,two M-34 2000 lb bombs could be carried internally.They had to be attached to racks # 2 and 3 (the inboard slanted racks by the catwalk) on stations 31 and 10,which were almost exactly at the midpoint vertically.

I believe that there is more information about B-17 external racks in Freeman's "The Mighty Eighth War Manual".Unfortunately,my copy isn't readily available at the moment.

Thank you very much for all the information

Trully appreciated.

Michel

Fortress In The Sky - Peter Bowers - Pages 106-107


B-17F-95-BO showing external racks for bombs up to 4000lbs.
Depending on the fuel carried, the B-17F could haul a really impressive
bomb load. The official maximum load was 9600lbs., but it was rarely
carried. The usual load for a 1400 mile round trip was 4900lbs.
For a very short trip, eight 1600lb. bombs could be stowed internally with
a 2000 pounder tucked under each wing on the racks shown. On occasion
this external load was increased to a pair of 4000lb bombs, but this was
rare as, at that weight, the aircraft became very sluggish....

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-Bill
B-17E 41-2595 "Desert Rat" Restoration Team